~ 1831 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; 9(4): 1831-1837 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 www.phytojournal.com JPP 2020; 9(4): 1831-1837 Received: 22-05-2020 Accepted: 24-06-2020 Gowthama Prabu U Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Anushri I Department of Chemical Engineering, SSN College of Engineering, Kalavakkam, Tamil Nadu, India Kishor Kumar B Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Saravanan M Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Baskar R Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Corresponding Author: Baskar R Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Study on the in vitro a ntioxidant properties of selected traditional medicinal plants Gowthama Prabu U, Anushri I, Kishor Kumar B, Saravanan M and Baskar R DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/phyto.2020.v9.i4y.12023 Abstract Oxidative stress is the phenomenon by which the excessive production of free radicals and oxidants that cause detrimental effects to diseases and finally death. Plants are the rich source of antioxidants which have the potential to neutralize these reactive oxygen species,thereby preserving the redox equilibrium of the body. Western Ghats serves as anexcellent habitat for many endangered species of flora and a reservoir of edible source of food for many living beings. Some of the commonly available traditional plants like Ficus benghalensis, Psidium guajava, Beta vulgaris, Syzygium cumini were known to possess rich pharmacological properties. In the present study, we aim to evaluate and compare the in vitro antioxidant properties of the selected traditional medicinal plants using various radical scavenging and reducing capacity assays. Further, the structural elucidation of the presence of phytochemical compounds in the extract was carried out using Infrared (IR) spectra. The above investigation on the free radical scavenging properties and the determination of the functional groups of bioactive compounds may open up new interest on their applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Keywords: Antioxidants, free radicals, FTIR, in vitro, guava, beetroot, banyan, jamun Introduction Free radicals belong to the category of atoms, molecules or ions which own a lone pair of valence electron in the outer most orbit making them highly electronegative. Their instability makes them to snatch electrons from the neighboring atoms within any biological system. They may attack the proteins, enzymes which are present on the cell membranes and DNA leading to the denaturation of the cell and other chronic disorders like mutation which leads to cancer. This unstable and excess production of free radicals and oxidants is termed as oxidative stress. Oxidative stress may lead to a chain of reactions like hardening of the blood vessels which lead to stroke, heart attack and also attack the collagen in the skin thereby causing stiffness in the skin tissues [1, 2] . Antioxidants are those substances that inhibit the role of oxidation, in low concentrations. They are majorly classified into two types namely enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants which are both involved in stabilizing the Reactive Oxygen species (ROS). Some of the enzymatic antioxidants include Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione, while the non-enzymatic antioxidants include the bioactives which mainly fall under total polyphenols such as flavonoids, anthocyanin, tannins, terpenoids, glyceroids etc [3, 5] . Southern peninsular India serves as a home for many diversified species of plants. Most of the plants have been used as a part of the traditional medicinal systems without being identified about its medicinal properties. Western Ghats shelter a wide range of endangered and common plants which are left unused, due to the lack of its study on their pharmacological values [6] . Plants with colored fruits, flowers and vegetables are usually rich in antioxidants. A total of 82 Indian medicinal plants traditionally used in medicine were subjected to preliminary screening against several common phytochemical activities. Interestingly, four commonly available plants showed strong and broad spectrum of activities (Table 1). Based on the available information, the active part of the plant was chosen to be the leaves, which were enriched with many bioactive constituents. The identification of the active bioactive compounds in the plant which are responsible for the pharmaceutical properties will serve as an indigenous attribute for their usage in the future. FTIR (Fourier Transfer Infrared) spectroscopy works based on the molecular vibration created by the infrared source. It has emerged as a powerful analytical tool in the pharmaceutical application for its detection in the functional group region and fingerprint region [7, 8] .